


Tangerine Sheets

by orphan_account



Category: SMPLive, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Drinking, Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, accidentally getting blackout drunk and fucking your best friend, happens all the time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:56:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23624227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Joko and Cooper wake up next to each other after the night of a house party and talk about their feelings.
Relationships: Joko/Cooper Schulz
Comments: 11
Kudos: 60





	Tangerine Sheets

Cooper awakens with a deep, resounding ache in his throat and an aluminum ringing in his head. Muddied, fathomless thoughts falling against each other in his head like marbles. 

The morning sunlight peers between the blinds of a window to an unfamiliar room, plastering stripes of brightness onto the alabaster walls and across the tangerine sheets that spilled over his form. It painted the whole room a sort of peachy colour, warmer than the San Diego summer.

It takes Cooper a few moments to come to, but when he begins to stir, regardless of the tightness in his muscles, he realizes that the dip in the mattress aside him wasn’t merely a result of the opaqueness in his brain.

“You’re awake–“ A voice says, evidently thinking aloud. “Here, I got you some water.” Cooper watches the form next to him turn, vision still clouded from sleep, and then return to carefully bring the glass to his lips. Wordlessly, Cooper props himself up on his elbows as promptly as he can manage in his current state, leaning in to drink from the plain glass without soaking himself. It was only once the coolness was in his mouth that he realized how punishingly hot it was, the midsummer heat trapped by the sealed windows and door.

The skater downed the entire glass effortlessly, drawing a telltale chuckle from the man beside him. “How you feelin’?” Suddenly, his perception began to clear a little.

“Joko?” Cooper hesitates. The blankets around him and the mattress beneath him feel like heaven, and all he wants to do is return to the facile realm of sleep for another five hours to put off having to deal with this situation he roped himself into.

“Are you that hungover?” Joko almost admired. Cooper’s vision is beginning to clear and seeing the easy expression on his best friend’s face swirls comfort around him like an ocean wave.

“Dude,” Cooper responds. “I can’t remember anything from last night.”

“Me neither.” Joko offers, “If that makes you feel any better.” 

Cooper turns to look at nothing in particular, trying not to lose himself in thought. Out of his peripherals he can’t help but watch the taller man look towards the window, a slight smile lingering on his face, and a philosopher’s gaze. The blond musters the willpower to sit up, and it’s when he throws his arms in the air to stretch his rigid back that he realizes he isn’t wearing a shirt–and neither is Joko. Some of the folds of the sheets had imprinted on his tanned skin.

Ah.

“Hey, Joko?”

“Yeah?”

“Did we…?”

“I mean,” Joko begins. “I can’t say for sure, because I couldn’t remember any of yesterday night to save my life. But, y’know… you’ve seen movies.”

Silence.

Cooper pauses to take in the softness in his friend’s gaze, the gentleness in his sound. He thinks to himself for a while, feels the warmth of the sun on his bare skin, looks to the blinding window that stripes the walls with light, then to Joko’s blemishless skin, his bedhead, his broad shoulders. 

He smiled, easy and lighthearted. “I guess this was bound to happen eventually, considering how many jokes I make about sucking your cock.”

“I always kinda knew you actually wanted to.” Joko acknowledged, a coy grin on his face. “You fruit.”

“What fruit would I be, Joko?” Cooper retorts.

“Something sweet,” Joko answers, without hesitation. “Maybe a bit rare, too. Like a starfruit.”

Cooper chuckles before falling onto his back, the soft mattress catching him. His eyes fluttered shut, hands folding over his stomach. “You’re nice.” He hums. He thought of a lot of things he could potentially say, many different ‘thank you’s, but that’s all that ended up coming out.

“I’m glad you think so.” Joko speaks, gleaming like gold. The brunet gets down on his side, leaning on his elbow next to Cooper.

“You know, out of all the people I could wake up next to in bed, half-naked and with no recollection of the night prior, I’m happy it ended up being you.”

“For real? I dunno’ about that one dude, that's a little sus.” Joko teases, attempting to veil his excitement that shows in his incandescent smile, fit to burst at the seams.

“Shut up, queer.” He playfully swats at Joko’s arm, Cooper’s own smile just as bright as his.

Joko sighs out his energy and shifts his gaze again to the white blinds covering the window, breaking up patches of cornflower sky. “Sometimes I think about the fact that if the stars didn’t align just right, like, maybe if the universe was having a bad day that day, or if either of us had just made slightly different decisions, we never would’ve randomly met in that one CS:GO match and become friends. So, I’m really grateful everything went right.” 

Pink spreads across Cooper’s cheeks. “If you keep talkin’ like that I’m gonna have to give you a kiss on the lips, muh’fucker.”

“Do it, no balls-”

Before Joko can finish, Cooper’s hand places itself on the back of Joko’s neck and pulls him in close, tilting his head at the last second before their lips interlock. Joko exhales surprise into Cooper’s warm skin before his eyes drift shut. His hands, unsure of where to go or what to do, find themselves on either side of Cooper’s head, his forearms delicately resting on his companion’s bare shoulders, bearing his weight as the rest of his body loses feeling and he can only focus on the wild sensations on his arms, lips and neck. Bursts of red, orange, pink, and yellow colour his perception and all he can bring himself to think of or focus on is Cooper. The other man busies himself with wrapping his free arm around Joko’s waist, putting all his affection into the transient moment, and he’s more than exhilarated when Joko returns the gesture. At that moment, Cooper swears all the love he’s ever felt could’ve been held within the confines of Joko’s body. It’s a feeling unlike any other, like paradise; it’s so fantastic that in the back of your mind is the persistent reminder that, eventually, this has to be over. That’s his only complaint.

It’s all too soon that the unfortunate human need for air forces the two away from each other, gasping instead of breathing, their bodies in a frenzy to cool down. The two take a moment to steady themselves and attempt to ease the thudding in their chests and the blood in their ears. For a moment they make eye contact, Cooper’s green into Joko’s blue and blue into green, before Joko collapses with a laugh. It’s the most concentrated joy Cooper’s ever had the delight of hearing. Joko’s face meets Cooper’s neck and his fingers intertwine with waves of sandy blond hair. Cooper grins, leaning into the touch, hugging Joko even closer. 

The pair are brought back down to earth when the abrupt sound of the bedroom door hitting the stopper on the wall chimes throughout the room. Joko hustles to pull himself off of Cooper and veil his state of undress with the sheets while Cooper jerks himself upwards to direct his full attention towards the noise. “You two were _so_ goddamn loud last night-” Sam comes flying into the room, barely paying attention to the state of his friends for the sake of espousing his frustration. “I had to sleep on the couch _in my own apartment!_ Not that I had a good time sleeping anyways!”

“Sam, I’m not wearing pants and I _will_ show you my dick right now if you don’t leave us alone for another ten minutes.” Joko dispatches with the authority of an angry mother.

Sam lets out an odd noise halfway between an overexaggerated groan and a yelp of anguish before leaving and slamming the door in his wake.

“You went to get me water while you’re butt-ass naked?” Cooper asks, without skipping a beat.

“I can care about you _and_ be too lazy to put my pants back on at the same time.” Joko explains. “You’re welcome for that, by the way.”

“Yes, thank you. I have no idea what I’d do without you.” Cooper says with a roll of his eyes and a grin, only mostly sarcastically. “My hero.”

“Damn right!” Joko exclaims, as spirited as ever. “I’m gonna get dressed so we can get out of here and avoid Sam’s wrath. I’ll toss you your clothes- if I can find them.” He jokes, as he goes to push himself off the cushion of the bed.

“Hey, wait a second.” Cooper softly grasps Joko’s arm before the other man can leave his proximity, his expression having turned sober.

In less than a second, Joko’s attention is spotlighted entirely on Cooper. “What’s up? Is everything okay?” He asks, concern reflected in his voice.

“No, it’s nothing like that- I’m fine. It’s just… I have to ask, now that Sam just confirmed what were thinking, and all.” He takes a deep breath in, exhales as he speaks. “What _are_ we?”

Joko pauses, a million different thoughts appearing in his mind all at once. He’s careful when he chooses his words, minding the look on Cooper’s face. “Whatever you want us to be. If you want us to still be just friends, I’m cool with that.”

“Joko, I wouldn’t have kissed you just now if I only thought of you as a friend. I’ve been having wet dreams about you practically since I first heard your voice through your shitty webcam mic making callouts on Mirage years ago.”

Joko stops again, eyes widening at the confession. “You’re not fucking with me, right?”

“No, dumbass! I’m trying to be candid with you right now!”

“Sorry, sorry, it’s just… I think I’m in disbelief.”

“… Why?”

“Because I feel the same way about you, and I thought I was alone for, like, forever.”

Blue into green. Green into blue. For a minute, it felt as if the earth itself had stopped turning.

“Fuck me,” Cooper sighs, releasing tension he didn’t know he was holding onto, “Why are we so fucking stupid?” He laughs.

He pulls Joko into a much-needed embrace. The immediate response of arms around him in turn is like coming home. “I have no idea, but I think this is the only time someone’s been happy to wake up completely naked next to their best friend in bed with no memory of last night.” One of Joko’s hands reaches up to twirl a lock of Cooper’s blond hair between his fingers.

“Yeah. Make that double.” Cooper exhales.

“Are you guys almost fuckin’ done in there?” Sam squawks, just beyond the door.

Cooper turns to yell back at the door, his arms still around Joko. “Just give us a minute to get dressed and we’ll leave!”

“Uh, no, you guys are gonna help me clean all this shit up!”

Cooper briefly scans the room for potential escape routes. Since Sam’s apartment was on the first floor of the tall brick block the two lovers could, hypothetically, pop the screen off of Sam’s window and book it across the street to where Cooper’s old, used sedan was parked. The only door leaving the bedroom was obviously a no go-

“I guess we owe it to him.” Cooper volunteers.

“Yeah, you do!” Sam hollers.

“We’ll be there in a minute!” Joko calls.

After a few seconds worth of hesitation, Joko and Cooper separate themselves from each other’s warmth, both unable to help but languidly, whimsically grin when their lines of sight inevitably meet once more.

Joko laughs, shifting to push himself upwards. “I’ll find your clothes for you. Keep in mind I’m still pantsless, so look away… Unless, you just don’t feel like it.” He looks back over his shoulder, grinning.

With that, Cooper places his elbows on his knees, his chin in his hands, and expectantly observes his boyfriend, only interrupted by the periodic need to blink, goofy grin spread across his face like fluffy, white clouds across the open sky.

**Author's Note:**

> BIG thanks to the new york times bestselling author and excellent friend [americanaspacecadet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/americanaspacecadet) for proofreading and generally motivating me to write/post this altogether. much love <3 to everyone else: thanks for giving this one a click! hope you enjoyed!


End file.
